Monday, July 14, 2008

There is no more fundamental axiom of American freedom than the familiar statement: In a free country we punish men for crimes they commit but never for the opinions they have.- Harry S. Truman

Carry a sign that says McCain=Bush in the wrong place and you may get arrested.If you go to a McCain Phony Town Hall Meeting don't bring a sign with you saying McCain=Bush or you may be arrested or ticketed and escorted off the premises and warned that you will be arrested if you return. This happened on public property and at a public function. A 61 year old librarian was escorted by police from of a phony town hall meeting for John McCain because of a sign she carried that said McCain=Bush. Watch the video, what could be more un-American, free speech be damned. Fortunately there was someone to record the events as they took place and publish them otherwise I doubt the truth would be told.Get your McCain=Bush T-shirt

Jim Hudson Takes On John McCain - CountdownIn another incident McCain will not answer question of Vet and tries to hide the truth about his voting record on veterans benefits. McCain who had opposed the benefits to veterans, refuses to acknowledge the question.

The Bush Administration Chickens come home to roost, IndyMac collapse.With the collapse of the IndyMac Bank the Bush Administration is scrambling to avert futher disaster by considering moves that a few weeks ago they would have disregarded. While many of the people that have been foreclosed have been referred to as renters this is not the case. The predatory lending practices have played into the American Dream of home ownership. Why do people drive Hummers? Advertising. The same with home ownership, while the dream for many is out of reach, for other Americans the dream persists. That dream has been capitalized on by the mortgage industry, they have ruthlessly exploited peoples hopes and dreams. As stated in an article in Washington Post by former govenor Spitzer of New york. "Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) (OCC) invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.Throughout our battles with the OCC and the banks, the mantra of the banks and their defenders was that efforts to curb predatory lending would deny access to credit to the very consumers the states were trying to protect. But the curbs we sought on predatory and unfair lending would have in no way jeopardized access to the legitimate credit market for appropriately priced loans. Instead, they would have stopped the scourge of predatory lending practices that have resulted in countless thousands of consumers losing their homes and put our economy in a precarious position." What bank will be next? The administration is scrambling because fat cats are getting hurt and the administration does not wanted to be blamed for a recession in an election year.New Yorker Magazine cover page panders to racisism and fear mongering.The New Yorker Magazine cover for July 21st 2008 shows Obama in the Oval Office dressed as a Muslim and Michelle Obama dressed as a terrorist with an AK47 over her shoulder while an American flag burns in the fireplace. Whatever the stated reason for the magazine cover it should be seen as it is, it is in bad taste and blatantly plays to racial stereotypes.

Pelosi and Impeachment, back on the table."House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has dropped a bombshell by reversing course and suggesting that the Judiciary Committee might take up the issue of impeaching President Bush.

Pelosi’s change of heart comes after Rep. Dennis Kucinich moved a “privileged resolution” to force the House to consider whether Bush should be impeached for, according to the Ohio Democrat, lying to Congress and the American people about the reasons for invading Iraq.

"When future historians sift through the wreckage of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, they will rely in large part on a handful of books by brilliant reporters who watched the debacle unfold. George Packer's The Assassins' Gate is one such book, and Thomas E. Ricks's Fiasco is certain to be another. To this short list of indispensable accounts detailing how what was supposed to be a liberation became a quagmire, I would now add T. Christian Miller's Blood Money.

Most accounts have focused on the political and military mistakes made in invading and occupying Iraq. These errors have become somewhat familiar: the failure to plan for an occupation, even a short-term one; the U.S. proconsul L. Paul Bremer's careless destruction of all that remained of order in Iraq -- the Baath Party and the army -- in one fell swoop; and above all, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's persistent refusal to acknowledge that an Iraqi insurgency was growing and to raise U.S. troop levels accordingly."Reviewed by Michael HirshThe Washington Post.

Bush lifts executive ban on offshore drillingBy BEN FELLER, Associated Press"Putting pressure on congressional Democrats to back more exploration for oil, President Bush on Monday lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling that has stood since his father was president. But the move, by itself, will do nothing unless Congress acts as well."Congress needs to stand firm and not cave in to pressure from President Bush and the big oil lobbyists for a short term solution that is a canard foisted on the American people that will result in more pollution and a delay in the development of alternate energy sources. Allowing offshore drilling will not solve the energy crisis and will not lower prices, that has to be the dumbest concept ever. It is trying to find a shot term solution to a long term problem. One that our grandchildren and generations to come will hate us for.Bush and Cheney must be impeached!

Army Spc. Brian S. Leon Guerrero, Died: July 10, 200834, of Hagatna, Guam; assigned to 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, Guam Army National Guard, Barrigada, Guam; died July 10 in Babo Kheyl, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Spc. Samson A. Mora.

Army Spc. Samson A. Mora, Died: July 10, 200828, of Dededo, Guam; assigned to 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, Guam Army National Guard, Barrigada, Guam; died July 10 in Babo Kheyl, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Spc. Brian S. Leon Guerrero.

Background

I earned my BA Degree at Queens College CUNY, in Political Science, and MA from College of Staten Island CUNY, in Liberal Studies. PhM in Metaphysics, studying the Egyptian Mystery school and its effect on western thinking. My other interest are masonic history, western civilization, specifically ancient Rome through the renaissance. My other pursuit is Shotokan Karate, an interest that has consumed beginning in 1960. I hold a 8 degree black belt in Shotokan Karate from the World Traditional Karate Organization, WTKO. www.wtko.org I hold a 3rd degree in Iaido, Japanese sword art including a variety of martial arts weapons and close combat techniques.